Seoul High Court on April 28 increased former first lady Kim Keon Hee's prison sentence to four years from 20 months on corruption charges. The court found her partially guilty of involvement in a stock manipulation scheme and of accepting luxury gifts from the Unification Church. Her lawyers vowed to appeal the decision.
The Seoul High Court on Tuesday handed down a four-year prison sentence to former first lady Kim Keon Hee during a live-televised hearing, increasing it from the lower court's 20 months. The court held her partially guilty of involvement in a stock price manipulation scheme targeting Deutsch Motors, a BMW dealer in South Korea, and guilty of accepting luxury gifts from a former Unification Church official.
Special counsel Min Joong-ki's team had sought 15 years, charging violations of the Capital Markets Act, Political Funds Act, and a law on bribes for mediation. The allegations included making 810 million won (US$549,000) in illegal profits from manipulating Deutsch Motors shares between 2010 and 2012, as well as receiving two Chanel bags and a Graff diamond necklace in exchange for favors. The court upheld her acquittal on receiving free opinion poll results from a power broker ahead of her husband's 2022 presidential election.
Reversing the lower court, which convicted her only on some luxury gifts, the appeals court cited her provision of a brokerage account holding 2 billion won to an investment firm, through which 180,000 Deutsch Motors shares were sold. It overturned the full bribery conviction on the gifts but confirmed guilt on acceptance. In addition, it imposed a 50 million won fine, ordered confiscation of the necklace, and forfeiture of around 20 million won.
"The general public demands integrity and morality from a president's spouse no less than that of the president," the court stated. "But the defendant used that position to accept bribes for mediation and betrayed the people's expectations." Kim's lawyers vowed to appeal, while the special counsel team said it would review the ruling.
